The King St. Pilot Project in Toronto

At BAZIS, we choose our new condo locations carefully. We look for vibrant, urban communities with excellent transit access. We know that getting you to where you need to go is of utmost importance.

Keeping an Eye on Current and Future Trends in Transit

We’re watching the King Street Pilot Project eagerly, as some proponents believe this will relieve congestion along one of Toronto’s busiest routes. It began November 12th, and affects routes between Bathurst and Jarvis St.

This year-long pilot aims to improve the reliability, convenience and speed of public transit, while changing King Street’s function, by not allowing private vehicles to pass through intersections and giving priority to streetcars. The King Street Pilot will explore ways to move people efficiently while maintaining and supporting economic prosperity.

King is the busiest road route in the city, with over 65,000 people travelling it every day. It’s also the third most active transit corridor, behind only the Yonge-University and Bloor-Danforth Subway lines. Over the last decade transit needs have changed for both drivers and the TTC.

The pilot project hopes to improve travel speed, timing between streetcars, and overcrowding. With over 20,000 vehicles using King Street per day, much of these trips are primarily local and the majority of which can use the streets which run parallel instead.

Because it restricts the way private vehicles enter intersections at King and Bathurst and King and Jarvis, as well as eliminates on-street parking, the pilot project should produce a drop in vehicle traffic, encouraging foot traffic or transit and relieving congestion, making travel on King faster and more environmentally-friendly.

If you regularly travel this route, or have a destination in the affected area, it’s wise to review this link, which advises drivers, cyclists, transit-users and pedestrians how to safely navigate King during the pilot project.

This pilot project is noteworthy, because it could very well change how high-traffic areas in the downtown core are travelled. We’re wondering, what do you think about the #kingstreetpilot?